A suspect is a person that is on the basis of facts or circumstances suspected to have committed a punishable act. Suspects can be found before prosecution starts by virtue of reports to the police, or they can be found after it has started by a prosecutor issuing an information, a grand jury issuing a true bill or indictment or a judge signing an arrest warrant. Once a suspect is bound over for trial by a prosecutor issuing an information or a grand jury issuing a true Bill or indictment, the term is changed to defendant or accused.

Law-enforcement officers may stop and frisk suspects who are stopped on reasonable suspicion, a level that exists when there appears to be a 50 percent chance that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime. This level is based on the “totality of the circumstances,” as described in the Supreme Court decision Terry v. Ohio (1968).

The second level of suspicion is probable cause, which exists when law-enforcement officers have actual indications that a crime has been committed or is about to be committed. This is the highest level of suspicion that a law-enforcement officer can have in making an arrest, and it involves actual tangible evidence of criminality. If a person is arrested on probable cause, they are taken into custody and “booked” which involves taking detailed descriptions of them, conducting criminal background checks, taking photographs of them and confiscating any personal property. They are also given Miranda warnings which include the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.